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3/11/2011

Glogster EDU. My Grasshopper Mocha.

(Please stay with me; this short digression does relate to tech/ed.) I’m a big, no HUGE, peppermint mocha fan. I eyed a special called grasshopper mocha at a local coffee shop I frequent but thought, “Why change a good thing and possibly waste $3.50 on something that probably won’t live up to my expectations?” One day, I was in a crazy, risk-taking mood and blurted out, “Grasshopper mocha, please.” To my pleasant surprise, I discovered this drink is a delight! I now order grasshopper mochas more often than peppermint mochas and recommend them to others.

About a week ago, I had a “grasshopper mocha” tech moment. I’ve been pleased for several terms now with Weebly for Educators and Posterous in my classes. On the spur of the moment, I gave the Glogster EDU account a whirl. Wow, am I glad I did! Below is a Glog that I’ve been working on in collaboration with my Vocabulary class students. (Click here or on the pink Glogster box below to view full size.) It’s a work in progress—shortened because it is only a month long class and we began in week two.

Glogster EDU has a lot to offer. For starters, it’s a free. The teacher can create student accounts and manage them. Accounts can be made private or public. Edu Premium accounts are also available. Many educators are already on board. There are glogs to explore in a multitude of categories ranging from language arts to science. Here is a link to one I like called What Do 21st Century Students Need? and another entitled Best of TED for Teachers. (A downside I sometimes encounter is that glogs may take a few minutes to load, but hopefully wait time is worth it.)

Stay tuned for more posts on my uses of Glogster EDU combined with Pic Lits, Wall Wisher, and some of Daniel Pink’s thinking. Drop us a line to share your Glogster EDU.